Escape From the East
by Equinoxes
Summary: Thalia Grace is separated from her little brother Jason. At first, she could easily get in and out and the escape rate was high. Then, the Soviets starting beefing up their security and escaping was no easy task anymore. When 20 years have passed, Thalia decides to take one more shot at escaping. This will be her last attempt. Companion story to "When the Wall Falls."


**Disclaimer****: I do not own PJO .**

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><p>Thalia looked at the grey walls every day for the last two decades wondering when she was going to escape. It was dreadfully boring on East side. There was nothing to do but mundane things – go to school, work, eat, sleep, the usual. It was on everyone's list to reach the other side, the side with more <em>freedom<em> and_ liberty. _

Too bad getting to the other side was basically suicide.

To escape she used to walk out the back door of apartment buildings near the wall. When those got boarded up, she would jump from the 2nd or 3rd floor windows. After that, it got increasingly harder to go to and from. Thalia had work in East Berlin as a nurse and she needed money to provide for Jason and her. Getting _over_ the East was easy, getting _out _was the hard part.

Thalia was doing "well" by her standards. Money wasn't a problem; she brought herself a nice, cozy apartment while here. It was _getting the materials _to furnish it. Communism sure looked great on paper but in real life it worked as well if you used a screw to hammer in a nail. It was better than a dictatorship though, in Thalia's well informed opinion.

The afternoon light filtered through her window and bathed her bedroom in a soft orange tint. She was lying flat on her back staring at the photos of Jason and her that was taped to the wall. They looked so young and happy with smiles as big as the sun. Jason was smaller than his sister by a couple of inches and Thalia remembered swinging him up in her arms just like a mother would do to her son.

Of course, by now he should be taller – maybe even taller than her. Thalia tried to picture Jason as he would look like now. His blonde hair would be a little longer; perhaps he grew out of the buzz-cut he liked so much. He would be lean or muscular, yes that's right, if Thalia remembered correctly he used to love running around.

Thalia regretted a lot of things. But the most regrettable thing that she has ever done was not saying goodbye to Jason the day she stayed here for good. She lived in the fast lane, always jumping from one idea to the next and she got over things rather quickly. She didn't stay too long on a subject to conjure up some feelings. And when she did, well, she put on a mask to let everyone know that she fine.

Everything was just _fine_ in Thalia's world. She didn't get into the specifics of anything that happened to Jason and her. When their mother died, Thalia told him that she "had a little bit too much of her medicine" In reality, she dumped a dozen pills in her hands and downed them in a bottle of whiskey - right in front of the poor girl's face.

She told him that their father died in the bombing of Dresden but in fact, he got trialed and executed for being one of the SS guards at the infamous concentration camp of Auschwitz. Thalia didn't find out when she was a five and by then the authorities tracked her father down an sent him to a prison in some far-away country

She didn't want to appear weak in front of Jason even if she was suppressing the tears she wanted to release so badly. Thalia wondered if Jason ever found out the truth about their parents. And if he did, Thalia was sure that he would hate her for it.

It's been so long and maybe the sibling love they once had has diminished. Oh, Jason probably forgot about her already. He was only 12 when she left and he has the attention span of a squirrel. Maybe he found a girl or maybe he hasn't.

Thalia laughed at the thought of her precious brother getting a lady. He was much too stoic and took everything way too seriously. She remembered a pretty girl around Jason's age (Thalia had long forgotten her name), an American, coming by to Berlin once. She had tan skin and multi-colored eyes. Her father was some famous actor filming a part of a movie in Germany.

The girl fell in love with Jason but at first didn't notice her affections. It was only before she left was when Thalia broke the news that the girl loved him. Jason was quite upset about that but eventually got over it. That was the closest thing that he ever got to a girlfriend.

Thalia stopped laughing and sat up right. Her eyes sparkled. Oh how she missed her darling little brother!

She got off her bed and stretched. Her body was lean and supple, one of that of an athlete. The wall to the right of her bed was covered with a chaotic mess of newspaper articles, maps, arrows, and tape – lots and lots of tape.

The center piece was an outline of the Wall, both the inside and outside of it. It took a long time or begging, bribing, and threatening to compile it. All sorts of fun little goodies were loaded inside of it. Thalia finished the map last week and was quite proud of her masterpiece.

Part One was complete.

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><p>It was nightfall when Thalia left. Black war paint was under her eyes. She wore a long sleeved black shirt with matching pants. Her feet had combat shoes on – perfect to stomp people's face in. She carried no weapons on her, only sheer determination and an unmoving resistance to get to Jason.<p>

The night air was cold even though it was August. The streets were dark and few lights were on. Thalia would have to depend on memory to maneuver.

She looked up to the clear night sky. The stars were shining brightly above her head giving her courage to make it through the night. She could see the North Star, the Big and Little Bears, Pegasus, and (her personal favorite) Castor and Pollux. Thalia wondered if Jason could see the same thing as she was and thinking about that gave Thalia comfort in knowing that they shared something in common.

_Don't worry little brother; your big sis is coming over there soon. _

Getting to the wall was… not that hard actually. She avoided the searchlights and (very quietly) knocked a patrol guard and dragged his body towards an alley way. The boots she wore weren't just for stomping; they also served a dual purpose of helping her scale the walls. That part was easy enough. The hard part was the inside, the one with machine guns, searchlights, guard dogs, and _land mines. _

Before climbing over, she took one last glance at the place that was her home for the last two decades and went over the first obstacle. She landed on the ground with a thump and quickly dashed forward.

Almost the moment her feet touched the ground, Thalia heard the sound of dogs barking and loud footsteps rapidly going towards her. Shouts of Russian were being yelled left and right. Thalia knew little of the language, but she knew one of the phrases being said: capture the escapee.

_Shit. _

Adrenaline rushed to her veins and she ran as fast as she can. Sirens went off and the roar of machine guns. She miraculously made it across the 10 meter "death strip" and across the first of the barbed wire fences.

_Bang! _A shot of pain ran up Thalia's leg. She winced at the pain but kept on running even though it was getting increasingly harder to do so. Every step hurt but Thalia was willing to endure any kind of pain for her brother.

_Bang! _She managed to dodge this one but only slightly; it went right through the fabric and grazed her right arm. The dogs were getting closer and closer to her. She was almost there! All she had to do was climb the barbed wire and she'll be home free!

Another boom went out, this time a land mine. One of the bullets must've hit one and set it off. The sound was deafening to her ears and specks of dirt landed on her clothes. The air itself was clouded with dust and debris so Thalia couldn't see anything.

The dust cloud was cleared up and she caught sight of the wall – and several dozen soldiers aligned against it. Each and every one of them held a machine gun. Their uniforms were clean with the hammer and sickle sewn onto the arm bands, the symbols of the Soviet Union. They were young; some of them couldn't be older than 20 and all of them wore a nervous expression.

Thalia stopped in her tracks and stood rigidly in her place. What was she going to do now?

One of the soldiers dressed fancier than the others, a captain Thalia presumed, stepped out of the line. "Excuse me young lady," he said in German. "But what do you think you're doing?"

Thalia sneered. "Escaping," she replied coolly. "Isn't that obvious? Who would want to stay here in this dump of a place?"

"Well I can't let that happen can I?" His eyes flashed dangerously. "I recommend going back to your house and staying there until you possess the right papers to cross. You're surrounded anyhow. Make one move and I will turn you into Swiss cheese."

The girl looked around and saw that she was indeed, surrounded. The dogs that were chasing her were restrained by their owners. They made a semi-circle around her. She was bloody and bruised. It would be pointless to try and fight back.

"Over my dead body I will leave," Thalia said, but not with as much confidence as before. "I will not because have a brother there and I promised myself I'll get to him no matter what." Her voice was absolute.

"Some promises have to be broken miss."

"Not this one."

"Are you sure? This will be your last chance to get out alive."

Thalia locked eyes with the captain, her electric blue eyes daring him to shoot her. "Absolutely. I won't waver in my decision under any circumstances."

The captain raised an eyebrow. "Any circumstances?"

"Yes."

"Very well then." The captain lifted a silver whistle to his thin lips.

Thalia closed her eyes. _I'm sorry Jason. _

He blew the whistle and Thalia knew no more.

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><p><strong>I'm getting lazy again. -_- I need to work on my endings. <strong>

**If you haven't noticed, I uploaded this earlier this week but then I realized I haven't completed it. So, I'm re-uploading this again. This time it's actually completed. A little bit too short for my taste, but I still like it. **


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